How to Build a House (You Can Sleep In) – Sons of the Forest

Construction is a major part of surviving in Sons of the Forest; shelter is, after all, one of the necessities for survival. However, building a house for the first time can be convoluted, and there are some additional steps you need to take after finishing the house before you can sleep in it. Don’t worry, we’ll break it down step by step and have you safe and secure within your domicile in no time. This guide includes suggestions on location and resource gathering as well, so if you just want to see how to actually construct a house, use the Contents button to skip ahead.

Sons of the Forest is currently in early access. Therefore, some of these instructions might change in future iterations of the game.

Choosing a Location for a House

This is a very important step; make sure you’re giving it the proper amount of consideration. One of the best place for beginners to start is on the beach. The best beach is the one in the west; you will see a purple marker just off its coast on your GPS tracker.

At the start, make sure you loot all the crates (especially the duct tape) by the helicopter. From that starting point, head down off the mountain and follow the river to the largest section of beach on your GPS. This is a great spot because it has:

• Fresh water (the nearby river)
• Food
• Logs for building
• Not many enemies
• Useful items

If you are wanting to set up camp in a different area, make sure that it has most (if not all) of the above benefits. After arriving at the beach, you can go get a pistol, then make a tent and rest. In the morning, you can get started on your new abode.

Gathering Resources for a House

The wood we used for our house was just up from a small cliff, which required some walking. However, if you prioritize gathering all the wood in one go, then this can be done fairly quickly. Don’t forget that you can also set your trusty companion, Kelvin, to gather logs for you. It’s important, though, that you tell him to bring logs “here” when you’re at camp, otherwise they’ll be wherever you gave him the command.

Go up the embankment and start hacking away at some trees. You can equip your axe by holding / I, and equipping it with / Left Mouse. When you strike a tree with / Right Mouse, try to rotate around it and hit all sides; this will make the tree fall. Each tree gives you around seven logs, so chop down about ten. Afterward, pick up all the logs-you can carry two logs at a time-then throw them down the cliff towards where you want to build. While you’re up there, grab approximately 20 sticks (those just go into your inventory).

Building the House

From this point, you have two options. You can either build the house with the premade plan from the older building mode (the one from the last game), or you can use the new mode to build. The old mode essentially gives you the outline of a house, then you throw 75 logs into it, and it builds the house for you. The new mode lets you build the house with your own two hands; the process is more involved, but it ultimately takes about 20 logs less (55 total).

To see the building book that either starts your prefab house, or tells you how to build your house with your own hands, hit / B. There will be two different books for the two different building styles; you can switch between them by holding / X.

If you want to use the old system, select the Small Log Cabin and place it in a good spot with / Right Mouse. Now you simply bring your logs to the site and feed them into the prefab with / E. It’s fairly easy and intuitive, but the other mode is a little more complex.

There are four main parts of building a house with the new mode:

• The floor
• The walls
• The door
• The roof

Note: If while building a part of the house you see a red icon of a broken log pop up, that means that you cannot place a piece because your structure is damaged and the part you’re building on needs to be reset. You can dismantle pieces off a structure by looking at them and holding / C.

How to Build the Floor

Now let’s look at each part of the house, and how to build it, in the same order you will build it in the game.

The floor can be shaped in square sections. You will want at least two square sections on the floor (making a rectangle); you can set down more sections, but remember it will take more logs. First, make the outline of your foundation with logs. After picking up logs with / E, you can place them on the ground with , Left Mouse. After one is placed, the game allows you to connect them on the ground with a white-slashed arrow indicating the directions you want to connect.

The last step of the floor is placing the floorboards, which are logs of wood split vertically. Luckily, the game does this automatically when you bring a full log over to your frame. This is indicated by a white-dashed arrow splitting down the middle.

How to Build the Walls

This is definitely the easiest part, but it might take you a while. Put those muscles to use and haul logs to your base and stack them around the foundation. Again, when placing them, it will show a white-dashed outline of where your character will place the log. Stack them six logs high (not counting the floor) around the entire circumference of the building.

How to Build the Door

The door takes the least amount of time. First, pick a wall that you want the door to be on, then pull out your axe. When you approach the wall, you will see a red-slashed outline of a section you can chop out with your axe; press / Right Mouse to cut out the section for the door. Make sure that you don’t cut the sixth beam of wood (the top one that will attach to the roof).

Now that there is a space for the door, you will want an actual door to put there. This is a lot like making the floor boards, but you will have to split the logs vertically on your own. To do this, approach a log on the ground with your axe, and you will see a red-slashed line on where to cut. Be sure the line is cutting it the long way, then press / Right Mouse to cut it. Now bring those boards and place them in the doorway.

How to Build a Roof

Finally, the structure is up, but you’re going to want a roof to keep out the elements. A lot like the floor, simply bring logs in, and you will see a white-slashed arrow to place them. These are vertically split logs, but the game will split it for you when you place them (like the floor). However, if there is a single spot not placed, you will have to split the log yourself and place it.

How to Make a Bed

In order to rest and save inside your house, yes, you will need a bed. You might be looking through your book and not seeing a bed anywhere. Well, it is actually only in the older mode of building. Switch the modes so that your character is holding the book in their left hand, then you will see the instructions for the bed. It takes 16 sticks and a roll of tape to construct. You did remember to grab the tape at the start of the game, and the sticks while cutting trees, didn’t you?

Simply select the frame for the bed from your book and place it by hitting / Right Mouse. Then while looking at it, press / E to put the resources into the bed. Once all the sticks and tape are there, you will have a new bed on which to sleep and save.

Did you get attacked while making your home? Did we leave out any tips for building the house? Let us know in the comments!